---
title: "What if my sample is from an organism without a reference genome?"
slug: "what-if-my-sample-is-from-an-organism-without-a-reference-genome"
updated: 2025-11-10T15:10:40Z
published: 2025-11-11T13:00:01Z
canonical: "support.epicypher.com/what-if-my-sample-is-from-an-organism-without-a-reference-genome"
excludeFromSearch: true
excludeFromExternalSearch: true
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.epicypher.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What if my sample is from an organism without a reference genome?

Fiber-seq works with or without a high-quality reference genome for your organism. This is because long-read sequencing enables accurate, contiguous genome assemblies of novel model organisms and does not rely solely on alignment to a pre-existing genome to map reads. Fiber-seq allows you to capture chromatin features at the same time you’re constructing your genome assembly, enabling high-resolution, reference-free insights into gene regulation in emerging model systems.